eBay

richard1rst · ‎10-05-2017

So I’m trying to list a Christmas coffee mug. Laden with Christmas symbols and bearing the inscription “Good Golly Be Jolly”

And I get a red flag warning me that under offensive restrictions golliwog dolls are not allowed. Do not list.

HUH ????

How does “good golly be jolly” translate into a golliwog doll.

And what in the blinkety blank blue blazes IS a golliwog doll that it is so offensive.

Anyone?

"Laissez-faire capitalism (AKA The Great Material Continuum) is the only social system based on the recognition of individual rights and, therefore, the only system that bans force from social relationships." ~ Ayn Rand

penguins_dont_fly · ‎10-06-2017

@the*dog*ate*my*tablecloth wrote:
When I was a kid in England in the 1960s there was a Golliwog on the marmalade jar and one in the Noddy books. They were common. BTW Golly is the nickname for Golliwog. Also Wog which my Father used to use as a racial slur but he was a toned down Archie Bunker.

That's ironic ... the original meaning of "golly" was "God".

http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=golly

golly (interj);

euphemism for God, by 1775, in Gilbert White's journal; he refers to it as "a sort of jolly kind of oath, or asseveration much in use among our carters, & the lowest people."

Wog, on the other hand ... not so nice 😞

penguins_dont_fly is a Volunteer Community Mentor
Buying and Selling since 2013

richard1rst · ‎10-06-2017

@gramophone-georg wrote:
@richard1rst wrote:

First order of business in dealing with eBay is to realize that on eBay "AI" stands for Arrogant Incompetence and NOT Artificial Intelligence.
Seems so.

I found 72 items already listed here on eBay with the name golliwog in the title.

I found 884 items with the word Golly in the title.

So I tried again and I still get the warning.
Just out of idle curiosity, how many of those 72 items are from places like China, Hong Kong, and India?

If listed as being in USA, click on the seller's feedback page and look where it says they are registered.

12 were from the UK, 9 in total from Canada, Japan, Australia, Spain and Greece. None were listed as from China, Hong Kong or India. That leaves 51 in the US. I checked a few and they did show registered in the US.

Some of them were specifically about the golliwog doll, but some were music recordings by a group that called themselves The Golliwogs (a 1960’s band which eventually became Credence Clearwater). But that is irrelevant if the name itself is prohibited.

And then there were 7 sponsored ads for golliwog dolls at the bottom of the page leading to off eBay sites. Which of course WE are not allowed to do, but apparently eBay carves out an exception for itself.

"Laissez-faire capitalism (AKA The Great Material Continuum) is the only social system based on the recognition of individual rights and, therefore, the only system that bans force from social relationships." ~ Ayn Rand

stoneledge · ‎10-06-2017

And many people who'd be likely to buy and sell this kind of memorabilia are black people as we've seen on Antiques Roadshow, many times. Some scholars and other interested people collect and document these things for their historical value.

So, for all the PC AI censorship, eBay is discriminating.

Ironic. Good Golly.

Typos courtesy of Lithium.

thecollegefund · ‎10-06-2017

I wonder if the bots would notice if you were to spell "Golly" using a zero for the o and two ones for the l's ?

nowthatsjustducky · ‎10-06-2017

That would be a surefire way to have it not show up in searches, since that means an important keyword would be misspelled in a way that very few shoppers wold be likely to search on.

If it works, sell it. If it works well, sell it for more. If it doesn't work, quadruple the price and sell it as an antique.

-- Ferengi Rule of Acquisition #80

lemarcheaupuces · ‎10-06-2017

@luckythewinner wrote:
@richard1rst wrote:
And what in the blinkety blank blue blazes IS a golliwog doll that it is so offensive.
In the time it took you to tyle this sentence, you could have performed a Google search and learned all you needed to know.

if all posters did that for all topics (or even search for an answer here prior to posting), this board would be very quiet...

i find ebay's forum as practical as google.

it is a conversation board.

letoulousain

nowthatsjustducky · ‎10-06-2017

Heh. I've seen plenty of search results for various questions where all the results boil down to the same question being asked with no responses (or none posted publically), or the few results are effectively "Just Google It."

What the "Just Google It" crowd fails to realize is where search results come from. Google and other search engines don't maintain a huge monolithic database of any question ever asked or yet to be asked. They get their search results from other web sites; like this one for example. It requires people asking and answering questions on forums and elsewhere on the Web to make the search engines useful.

If it works, sell it. If it works well, sell it for more. If it doesn't work, quadruple the price and sell it as an antique.

-- Ferengi Rule of Acquisition #80

richard1rst · ‎10-06-2017

@lemarcheaupuces wrote:
@luckythewinner wrote:
@richard1rst wrote:
And what in the blinkety blank blue blazes IS a golliwog doll that it is so offensive.
In the time it took you to tyle this sentence, you could have performed a Google search and learned all you needed to know.
if all posters did that for all topics (or even search for an answer here prior to posting), this board would be very quiet...
i find ebay's forum as practical as google.
it is a conversation board.

Exactly.

Google is static, these boards are interactive.

Worse, Google also tracks your inquiries. Without knowing what it was in the beginning (I do now) I am concerned that Google will track me as perverted and then I get offensive emails.

No I’m not paranoid. I once did a Google search for compression socks. Less than an hour later I opened my email and there on the sign in page was an ad from Walgreen for compression socks. And over the next few days other ads from other companies for compression socks. That is just way to invasive for my tastes.

Fortunately I have since discovered Duckduckgo.

"Laissez-faire capitalism (AKA The Great Material Continuum) is the only social system based on the recognition of individual rights and, therefore, the only system that bans force from social relationships." ~ Ayn Rand

thecollegefund · ‎10-06-2017

I meant for purposes of the description. I wouldn't think the word "Golly" would be a top search term for a Christmas mug or a great keyword to be used in the title -especially if the bots are having a problem with it.

slippinjimmy · ‎10-06-2017

@richard1rst wrote:

First order of business in dealing with eBay is to realize that on eBay "AI" stands for Arrogant Incompetence and NOT Artificial Intelligence.
Seems so.

I found 72 items already listed here on eBay with the name golliwog in the title.

I found 884 items with the word Golly in the title.

So I tried again and I still get the warning.

What exactly does the warning say? Is it a "warning" or a "prohibition"? If it's the later then eBay is wrong, if it's a warning/caution then I really don't understand what the problem is.

Over the years I've run into a number of words which trigger a warning but I'm not prevented from listing and I'm not afraid to list because the item is NOT what the warning is about.

Paranoia strikes deep
Into your life it will creep

lemarcheaupuces · ‎10-06-2017

@nowthatsjustducky wrote:
Heh. I've seen plenty of search results for various questions where all the results boil down to the same question being asked with no responses (or none posted publically), or the few results are effectively "Just Google It."

What the "Just Google It" crowd fails to realize is where search results come from. Google and other search engines don't maintain a huge monolithic database of any question ever asked or yet to be asked. They get their search results from other web sites; like this one for example. It requires people asking and answering questions on forums and elsewhere on the Web to make the search engines useful.

been around for a while.

so i always expect the sort of "reply" i replied to.

ticks me off.

why not just oblige and reply the question?

i could say the same thing to the poster.

the time it took you to type, you could have just explained why the mug was offensive.

or at best provide a link to google.

anyhow before posting here i "usually" search on the net (whatever my browser is; bing or whatever).

(i also search on the forum).

but the funny part very often the "answer" i find on the net is actually an old thread from the ebay forum.

letoulousain

richard1rst · ‎10-06-2017

What exactly does the warning say? Is it a "warning" or a "prohibition"? If it's the later then eBay is wrong, if it's a warning/caution then I really don't understand what the problem is.

I tried to list it as - Coffee Mug Christmas Good Golly be Jolly NEW

It says specifically:

“Under our Offensive Materials policy, we do not allow listings for Golliwog dolls or related paraphernalia. Please do not attempt to relist this item.”

That is not a warning, That is a prohibition.

The mug shows various Christmas icons and is imprinted with the words "Good Golly Be Jolly" Clearly it has nothing to do with the dolls or any even oblique reference to them.

"Laissez-faire capitalism (AKA The Great Material Continuum) is the only social system based on the recognition of individual rights and, therefore, the only system that bans force from social relationships." ~ Ayn Rand

nowthatsjustducky · ‎10-06-2017

Sounds like it is time to light the Trident signal to summon @Anonymous to investigate this silliness. Hopefully Sea Man doesn't answer the call instead. 😄

If it works, sell it. If it works well, sell it for more. If it doesn't work, quadruple the price and sell it as an antique.

-- Ferengi Rule of Acquisition #80

nowthatsjustducky · ‎10-06-2017

Duplicate reply. Mods can delete this one.

If it works, sell it. If it works well, sell it for more. If it doesn't work, quadruple the price and sell it as an antique.

-- Ferengi Rule of Acquisition #80